Israeli Army Kills Palestinian Who Attempted Shooting Attack at West Bank Checkpoint

Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian dead in the southern West Bank on Tuesday, who the army said opened fire at soldiers operating a checkpoint.

According to witnesses in the town of Halhul near Hebron, Hamdi Abu Deiaa (40) was shot while trying to carry out a shooting attack. Residents of the town tell Haaretz that the man was a recently released security prisoner and worked as part of the Palestinian security forces in Bethlehem.

Palestinians at the scene reported that the Israeli military prevented the arrival of a medical team to treat and evacuate the man.

• 16-year-old Palestinian shot dead by Israeli army overnight, Ramallah says
• Two Palestinians killed in West Bank clashes with Israeli troops, Health Ministry says
• 2022 saw highest number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since second intifada

Deiaa left a will before the attack, in which he writes that he decided to sacrifice his life to protect holy sites and the honor of Islam and Muslims, "the same honor that is trampled with every child killed and every house that is demolished and every man humiliated at a checkpoint."

The Palestinian is the fifteenth to be killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces in the first 17 days of this year. In 2022, the death toll in the West Bank reached its highest level since the end of the Second Intifada, but the figures so far this year have far outstripped this rate.

The military is now investigating whether the Deiaa was behind a shooting which targeted an Israeli bus in the area on Sunday.